This invention relates in general to applying twist-type ribbons to bags and more particularly to a machine for tying such ribbons around the necks of bags.
Many bakery products, particularly bread loaves and to a lesser measure rolls and buns, are sold in plastic bags which are gathered at their ends and secured with a plastic clip or a twist-type tie. Users prefer the twist-type tie, because it secures the gathered end more tightly and is easier to reapply once removed. Indeed, the typical twist-type tie constitutes nothing more than a paper or plastic ribbon having a thin wire embedded within and extending longitudinally through it midway between its sides. While the twist-type tie may be easy for the user to reapply, it is not so easy for the bakery to apply in the first instance, for the packaging lines of bakeries operate at high speeds. A machine exists for applying such ties to bags as they pass along a conveyor, but this machine operates relatively slowly, is expensive, and is not entirely reliable. That machine forms the subject matter of U.S. Pat. No. 3,138,904 to E. Burford.